People who have lost their properties to eminent domain probably feel like the property has been stolen from them even though they have been compensated. There's something about not wanting to sell and being forced to sell that gives owners the sense of loss in an eminent domain case. What most people are not aware of is that there are other ways that your property can be "stolen" from you. Two other ways to have your property legally "stolen" are through adverse possession or prescriptive easement.
Acquiring property through adverse possession is allowed in 49 states. Adverse possession is more commonly called "squatters' rights". To acquire someone else's property this way, one must move into the abandoned property without permission for the prescribed number of years (This varies by state between 5 and 30 years.) and pay the property taxes. Properties susceptible to this kind of "theft" might include properties inherited by out of state owners or without heirs. Once the years of possession and tax payment have passed, a quiet title action can be made to acquire the property. Ways to prevent adverse possession are to check the property regularly, evict the interloper/s, or post a notice that permission to use the property can be revoked!
The second way to legally "steal" a property is by prescriptive easement. This use of property by a non-owner usually describes a driveway access, fence encroaching on the neighbor's property, or some other use of the neighbor's property on a regular basis. The perfect example was my own home who had the neighbor's fence five feet over the line into our yard. To prevent loss of this five feet of property, the neighbor had to sign a letter stating he knew the property was ours and that permission to use the property could be revoked. The neighbor's statement was filed with our property abstract! A second example of this is one of my current listings. The seller owns an "L" shaped lot. The lot appears to be rectangular since a portion of the neighbor's yard is split by a fence making the seller's property look rectangular. Had my clients continually used that property without the owner's permission for the number of years Minnesota requires, they could have attempted to gain the property by quiet title action. To protect themselves, the neighbor sends a written letter to my clients every few years offering to sell the lot portion. Like adverse possession, granting pemission for use eliminates the ability to gain ownership.
Information for this article taken from Bob Bruss' "Bob's Notebook".
(c) Bonnie Erickson 2006
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